Pfizer Earns Highest Score on LGBT Ranking

Pfizer Earns Highest Score on LGBT Ranking

For the 11th consecutive year, Pfizer has earned a perfect “100” ranking in the 2014 Corporate Equality Index (CEI).

The CEI is the leading survey that evaluates U.S.-based businesses on their treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees, customers, and investors. It is released annually by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the education and research-focused arm of the largest LGBT advocacy nonprofit in the U.S.

Since its launch in 2002, the index has grown to become a leading benchmarking report for the rising number of businesses competing to recruit and retain top talent and positively influence LGBT consumers. Businesses that achieve a 100 score are given the right to use in their marketing and advertising a “Best Employer” trademark logo that is a highly recognized symbol of distinction in the LGBT community.

This year’s report called 2013 “a historic year of progress for the equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans,” and noted that corporate America stood out as “a true leader in the fight for basic fairness and dignity.” It highlighted how hundreds of major businesses urged the Supreme Court to strike down the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8, and noted that more than 120 businesses lent public support to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a proposed federal law intended to deter workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Pfizer was recognized for its organizational support of the LGBT community through its corporate policies, philanthropic efforts, supplier diversity program and other initiatives. In addition to the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in its practices and equal opportunity policy, the company also offers comprehensive benefits coverage of same-sex spouses and domestic partners where legally permissible as well as transgender health care. The company also sponsors the Out Pfizer Employee Network (OPEN), a global colleague resource group for Pfizer’s LGBT colleagues and their advocates. Each year, OPEN colleague volunteers lead and partner with other internal Pfizer departments in completing the company's CEI submission.

“We are proud to retain our place on this prestigious ranking as a corporate leader with a demonstrated commitment to LGBT equality and inclusion in our workplace,” said Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Freda Lewis-Hall, who chairs Pfizer's Diversity Worldwide Leadership Committee, the governing body that provides business input to and leadership advocacy for Pfizer’s diversity and inclusion strategy. “Over the years, the Corporate Equality Index has helped Pfizer as a company stay abreast of emerging developments, enabling us to engage and support our colleagues in increasingly effective ways.”

Over the past 12 years, the CEI has become the gold standard for corporate policies and practices related to LGBT employees and their families. It rates companies on 40 such policies and practices. A total of 934 businesses have been rated in the 2014 CEI, including the entire Fortune 500. This year, a record 301 of the Fortune 500-ranked businesses have official CEI ratings, with the other 197 unofficially rated based upon publicly available data.